Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, there is no one here who better understands what is happening on the southern border than those of us who actually live on the U.S.-Mexico border. There is no one here for whom border security is more important than those of us fortunate enough to live on the southern border. Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, American taxpayers have spent over $300 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement; and the rights of those of us who live within 100 miles of the border, and that is the southern border as well as the northern border, our rights have been eroded. What Congress has not done is create the corresponding transparency, accountability, and oversight needed over these investments. H.R. 2203 will do that. The Republican motion only seeks to divide us. Quite simply, this is a poison pill amendment that has no relevance to what we are trying to do here with this bill. Some of my colleagues seem obsessed with dehumanizing immigrants, casting them as criminals to be feared and even hated. Let me remind Members that the recent massacre in El Paso, Texas, was not carried out by an immigrant, but by a killer, a U.S. citizen who drove 600 miles across the State of Texas to slaughter Mexicans and immigrants. And he did this in one of the safest cities in America. Immigrant communities and border communities remain among the safest cities in America. Enough.…”